# Multi-Agent System (MAS) A Multi-Agent System (MAS) is a computational framework where multiple autonomous agents operate in a shared environment, collaborating or competing to achieve objectives. Each agent is capable of perception, reasoning, action, and communication. Unlike single-agent systems, MAS leverages specialized roles, tools, and coordination to handle complex tasks. ## Core components - **Agents**: Autonomous entities with specific roles, goals, and capabilities - **Communication**: Agents exchange information via protocols (FIPA-ACL, APIs, message queues, or natural language) - **Coordination**: Negotiation, coalition formation, and task allocation to divide work efficiently - **Environment**: Shared context in which agents observe and act ## Architectural patterns - **Hierarchical**: Tree-like structure with agents at varying levels of autonomy. A supervisor agent delegates and coordinates - **Flat/peer-to-peer**: Agents collaborate as equals without central control - **Hybrid**: Mix of hierarchical and flat, with specialized sub-teams ## Advantages - **Scalability**: Additional agents can be added without major redesign - **Fault tolerance**: If one agent fails, others continue operating - **Specialization**: Each agent focuses on what it does best - **Parallelism**: Multiple agents work simultaneously on different subtasks ## Challenges - Coordination complexity as agent count grows - Communication overhead between agents - Conflict resolution when agents have competing goals - Security and trust (malicious or malfunctioning agents) - Debugging and observability across distributed agents ## Notable frameworks and tools - [[Gas Town]] (Steve Yegge): 20-30 parallel [[Claude Code]] agents for software development - CrewAI: Role-based multi-agent orchestration - AutoGen (Microsoft): Conversational multi-agent framework - LangGraph: Graph-based agent workflows - OpenAI Swarm: Lightweight multi-agent orchestration ## References - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-agent_system - IBM overview: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/multiagent-system ## Related - [[AI Agents]] - [[Gas Town]] - [[Claude Code]] - [[Agentic Era]]